UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – Bogota pushed Friday for the United Nations to supervise Colombia’s ceasefire with the FARC rebels, even before the country votes on a peace deal to end the long-running civil war. The government and the country’s biggest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), laid the groundwork for a full peace deal when they signed a definitive ceasefire in June. That deal will be followed by a full peace accord only […]
Tag: FARC
Colombia, FARC rebels sign historic ceasefire
by Alexander Grosbois in Havana with Alina Dieste in Bogota HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — The Colombian government and FARC rebels signed a ceasefire and disarmament agreement Thursday, one of the last steps toward ending a half-century conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. The deal puts a definitive end to fighting in Latin America’s longest civil war, which has torn the country apart with shootings and bombardments in its coca-rich jungles and hills. […]
Colombia rebels: Laying down guns to embrace roles as mothers
MAGDALENA MEDIO VALLEY, Colombia (AFP) — They have seen bloodshed and death in Colombia’s jungles but for some women rebel fighters, the greatest pain was being forced to abandon their children. Wearing green combat fatigues, Rosmira, 29, sits with a group of her sisters-in-arms at a secret mountain camp, where AFP was exceptionally granted access by commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In a half-century-long conflict that has left countless orphans and widows, […]
Colombia’s Santos says country closer to peace after FARC disarmament plan
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Tuesday (January 19) that his country was closer to peace after the government and leftist FARC rebels agreed earlier in the day to ask the United Nations Security Council to help monitor and verify a rebel disarmament should the two sides reach a final peace deal. “Today we’ve taken one more step, a definitive step towards the termination of conflict and for peace. In Havana we have formally […]
Santos defends justice accord with FARC following criticism from rights group
Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos responded to critcism from the rights group, Human Rights Watch, in relation to a justice accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), saying that ‘perfect accords’ don’t exist. The rights group likened an accord signed between the government and the rebels in mid-December to a ‘impunity piñata’. The pact establishes that FARC members, military personnel and even civilians who accept resposibility for crimes committed during the conflict and truthfully […]
Amid peace accords, Colombian families receive remains of loved ones
With the Colombian peace process back on track, family members of 29 of the disappeared from the more than half-century long civil war received remains of their loved ones in central Colombian city of Villavicencio Thursday (December 17). The ceremony comes two days after representatives of the Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels signed an agreement on reparations for war victims and the establishment of special tribunals to try former combatants once the two sides […]
